I went through there just as the first police vehicle was pulling up. The driver side front from bumper to the passenger compartment of the car (maybe a Honda?) was destroyed. It was sitting cross-wise on Woodland Hills south of the intersection facing east with the SUV buried in the woods in the median facing south. I did NOT witness the accident but judging by how the vehicles were sitting the only thing that seems logical is that the car was crossing Woodland Hills on Tree Ln and the SUV ran the stop sign.

When we came back from dinner there were at least a half-dozen police cars and an ambulance there. The police were taking pictures on a tripod so we sort of figured there might have been a fatality. Ugh.

I could be way off in my assessment of how the entire thing went down. By the sheer amount of destruction to the metal of the vehicles involved one would have to assume that one or both were speeding.

For a brief portion of my otherwise boring life I was fortunate enough to fly helicopters for the Army. During that time I was stationed at the US Army Safety Center at Ft Rucker, Alabama. Part of my job was to help sort out the who/what/why of a crash scene. You'd be surprised how often initial appearances/assessments can be way off the mark. The police will sort it out in time.

Regardless of how it all played out, the sobering truth of the matter is that someone died in our neighborhood tonight. Someone else is missing that person and hurting right now. They were just going out to the store or to dinner or on the way home and they'll never make that destination. I was taking my 8 year old daughter and her friend to Pei Wei to grab some dinner when we happened by and I know I held their hands a little extra tight as we walked across the parking lot. You just can never freaking know.

I could be way off in my assessment of how the entire thing went down. By the sheer amount of destruction to the metal of the vehicles involved one would have to assume that one or both were speeding.

For a brief portion of my otherwise boring life I was fortunate enough to fly helicopters for the Army. During that time I was stationed at the US Army Safety Center at Ft Rucker, Alabama. Part of my job was to help sort out the who/what/why of a crash scene. You'd be surprised how often initial appearances/assessments can be way off the mark. The police will sort it out in time.

Regardless of how it all played out, the sobering truth of the matter is that someone died in our neighborhood tonight. Someone else is missing that person and hurting right now. They were just going out to the store or to dinner or on the way home and they'll never make that destination. I was taking my 8 year old daughter and her friend to Pei Wei to grab some dinner when we happened by and I know I held their hands a little extra tight as we walked across the parking lot. You just can never freaking know.

@shodan66: i just can't imagine that kind of damage had one or both not been speeding/ ran a stop sign, at that intersection. not trying to take away from the seriousness of it at all. you're right...you simply never know. accidents happen in the blink of an eye and people's lives are forever changed. such a sad thing to have to go through.

She passed: He, got a scratch. Just before 7:30pm this evening an elder lady pulled into a 4 way stop intersection. A witness said they exchanged hand gestures to politely allow each other turns to go first. East and west their directions. The elder lady didn't know a possibly intoxicated man and his passenger wife who had just left a party wanted to fly through a 4 way intersection. They were celebrating his last day of probation from a past burglary charge. We ended up waiting to assist the M.E. for body recovery of the elder lady for awhile. She had failed to look both ways AGAIN to check if it was okay to pull across the intersection in front of the guy trying to get to the store for more supplies for the party, who's speed is unknown but he was able to push the elders car about 120 feet broadside. We could smell spilled beer all inside the car, and a bottle was found outside his vehicle. Witness's stated the wife had exited the passenger seat, and the male driver had to exit the same passenger side because of the heavy trees on the other side of his vehicle. When questioned who was driving they had different stories from witnesses. During his interview the officer was documenting his injuries. A picture was taken of possible seat belt marks left from the crash. The officer was quit confused by the marks from his left upper shoulder leading down to his right waist and abdomen. What could be so wrong with the truth? Any way after finding the elders purse in the front seat looking for I.D. I saw a small photo binder that had fell open when I pulled her bag open. Wow, family pic, we then recovered her phone to forward to investigators. As we touched to screen it came on and we saw another grand daughters pic on it. That's the hard part of this day. Someone's family was just ripped apart by a less than model citizen. It never gets easier only harder. She was someone's grandma!

God Bless the surviving family members of the victim in this terrible crash....and as hard as it will be to do, God Bless the family members of the driver that caused the wreck as well as the driver himself. Both families involved have a long, hard road ahead of them. 😔